GoSoapBox Launch Campaign

GoSoapBox is a Web-based classroom tool that breaks down student barriers to participation, giving them a platform to contribute to the class discussion while equipping teachers with valuable insight into student comprehension. GoSoapBox was the winner of the Chicago Lean Startup Challenge, an annual event co-sponsored by Walker Sands.

The Problem

"GoSoapBox allows students to become more engaged in the classroom in different ways... My students love GoSoapBox." - Pilar Munday, Educause

As a startup with limited resources following lean canvas principles, GoSoapBox needed to get to market quickly and establish viability for its offering. An extension of the traditional classroom clicker tool, the GoSoapBox product is a Web-based application (accessible by smartphone, tablet and computer) that enables students to take quizzes, post and answer questions, and indicate confusion about any subject material, all in real time. Teachers are able to export data (e.g. at what point during the lecture did confusion spike?) to assess student comprehension. Following an initial beta test, GoSoapBox needed to get the product in the hands of teachers to determine how they integrated it into their classrooms and which features they found most valuable.

The Solution

Walker Sands developed a quick and efficient go-to-market strategy for GoSoapBox to support their launch. Through conversations with GoSoapBox team members, the Walker Sands team distilled information about the brand?s product and key audiences into messaging that would appeal to reporters while touting the app's classroom benefits.

"GoSoapBox encourages participation and interaction, which keeps students engaged in class... it's another tool that makes it easier to go paperless." - Matt Hurst, Edutopia

Walker Sands secured exclusive coverage from Mashable on the product launch. Mashable highlighted GoSoapBox favorably, declaring that "the product falls in a small category of education apps that actually seem viable for an average classroom.

Walker Sands continued the momentum by securing an interview with a middle school teacher using GoSoapBox and a reporter from the popular education blog Edutopia. The interview turned into a positive review of the tool and its benefits in the classroom.

The Result

The Mashable article was shared more than 1,600 times across Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+. Buzz on social media continued when McGraw-Hill?s education division talked about GoSoapBox as a model of classroom innovation during a Twitter chat.

"GoSoapBox falls in a small category of education apps that acutally seem viable for an average classroom." - Sarah Kessler, Mashable

Subsequent stories appeared on a Harvard University education blog, TeachHUB.com and T.H.E. Journal, among others. The NBC affiliate in Reno, Nevada aired a primetime news story covering the use of the app in a classroom at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Walker Sands’ campaign successfully launched the GoSoapBox app in the education marketplace. Over a one month period, GoSoapBox reported more than 41,000 website impressions and 830 sign-ups for a free trial.

The campaign positioned GoSoapBox for long-term success. Within one year after launch, GoSoapBox had been used by more than 45,000 teachers in 100 countries. The company also launched a second product, Conferences.IO, designed to capture real-time polling information and crowd feedback at events. They have since signed on users that include Northwestern University’s Kellogg School and the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.